Chapter 11 #2
There was genuine warning in her tone. Family allegiance only went so far.
The two of them had their shared secrets but she had known Ben longer.
He would one day be head of the family, and then he would hold all the power.
Perhaps, anticipating that, she shared confidences with him, too. They might very well be closely allied.
Nadine looked between the two of them worriedly. “I’ve been thinking,” she said, speaking quickly, “maybe I should—find someplace else to stay? This place—I feel like it brings out the worst in me. I don’t want—”
“No.” Odessa snapped to, like a rubber band flinging back into place. Whatever doubts she had regarding his loyalty vanished as she refocused on her prey. “No, no. You’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m . . . not?” Nadine shot him a hunted look.
“Ben understands how quickly things can spiral out of control when the blood gets heated,” Odessa said soothingly, the words all the more convincing because they had the chilling ring of truth.
“You miss your sister. Of course you do. Anyone would. All you have to do is apologize and things will move on, and go exactly to how they were before.”
Nadine tried again. “I just don’t think—”
“Nadine. Don’t be silly. Stay for the festival, at the very least. My father is right, you know. There’s tons to do. Even for a shy little deer like you.”
Cal’s jaw tightened until he heard the click of bone.
“I don’t w—”
“Even if you ‘don’t like guns,’” his traitorous sister cut in, “there’s fishing and cooking contests and scavenger hunts. And if you’re really that afraid of the big scary woods, Baby Cal will keep an eye on you. He’s good at that. Aren’t you, Cal?”
“She doesn’t like hunting,” he said tightly.
“She can learn,” Odessa said, with aggressive cheer.
“No,” he growled, harsh and grating.
Nadine looked between the two of them as if she were watching a tennis match, though from the worry on her face it was clear she thought she was the cause of their fight.
And it was, but not in the way that she thought. She had no fucking idea that they were arguing about her life right in front of her. That Odessa, who she felt safest with, was arguing for her violent initiation into the family fold.
His sister noticed Nadine’s crestfallen expression and her own face shifted, softening.
This time, he thought it looked almost genuine.
“I feel like I’ve barely gotten to know you at all.
Ever since you came here, you’ve been hiding.
You’ve spent more time with people in town than you have with us, Nadine, and we’re practically family. Sisters, even. At least, we could be.”
The light in Nadine’s eyes went out at the word ‘sisters.’ Her withdrawal was nearly a physical act of remove and Odessa saw it—he saw her see it, and he could tell from the spiteful cast of her features that she took it as a personal rejection.
“You were at The Blue Bar last night, weren’t you? I haven’t been there in a while myself.” Liar, Cal thought. “Not since I saw Carol spit in my drink because she’s friends with that wretched Helena. But Cal was there, too, last night. Did you see him there?” Her smile was like a fox’s.
Nadine flushed darker. “I—”
His sister nodded sagely, taking discomfort as assent.
“He did some pro bono work for a few people around town when he was just starting out, so now they hate him just a little bit less than they do us. I’m sure they think they’re being quite generous, not spitting in his drinks.
And all he had to do,” she scoffed, “was work for free.”
Nadine turned towards him. “I didn’t know you did, uh, pro bono.”
“Well, you wouldn’t, would you?” his sister purred.
“It goes against their agenda that we’re all evil.
” Drink forgotten, she leaned both elbows on the varnished table in a way that would have had their mother wincing.
“And speaking of agendas, what were you talking about with our city manager? Rael said you were hanging out with Deena.”
“I met her at the civic center while getting some books,” Nadine stammered. “We were just having a drink.”
Odessa picked at her nails with the same studied focus that a blacksmith might use to sharpen a blade. “It’s just a little odd that you would call one of my brothers a murderer and then have a secret meeting with one of our so-called government officials and the son of the sheriff.”
That’s enough, Cal mouthed forbiddingly. Throwing the suspicion on the dead woman’s sister was cruel, especially when her back was already up against the wall.
“It wasn’t a secret meeting,” she said, with heartbreaking desperation. “We were literally in public—and isn’t Rael your friend?”
Cal, behind her now, picked up a strand of her hair and tugged at it, making her stiffen to attention. “You seemed pretty cozy with him the other night.”
None of the tension left her shoulders, but when she spoke, her agitation had a slightly different flavor. “Why does it matter, anyway? Are you having me watched?”
Odessa watched the two of them with interest, the lights of the kitchen dancing in her restless, eager eyes. “Well, well.” Her eyes dropped to his hand, where it lay possessively on Nadine’s shoulder. “What’s this? Are you planning on taking her with you, after all?”
“No.” It was a cold lie and he felt a small flinch pass through her shoulders as he drew his thumb along the rise of her collarbone. “It’s just a little harmless fun.”
“You’ve hurt her feelings,” Odessa said, looking at her. “She wants to be your little deer.”
“She looks more like a sparrow than a deer.” Cal gave Nadine’s shoulder a squeeze, hoping she’d recognize it as the combination of warning and reassurance that it was meant to be.
“I have to go meet another client. I’ll be back later for the candles.
Stay out of my office. I’ll know if you’ve been in there. ”
“His office.” Odessa’s voice curled after him like smoke. “You know JD stands for Jackass Duty?” she called out, but he didn’t bother to respond or linger to hear the rest.
Nothing his sister said had been anything less than correct, but he had come terrifyingly close to losing control in front of the two of them.
???????
He hoped the drive would cool him down but the commute wasn’t exactly ideal even in optimal conditions and the storm slashed visibility down to a miserable fifty feet.
Cal got as far as Rural Route 106 before encountering a rockslide.
Then he swore involuntarily. The southbound pass—the only way down the mountain—was completely blocked off, rangers and sheriffs crawling over the debris like orange-vested ants as they took in the damage.
A man in a Carhartt rain jacket motioned for him to roll down his window. As soon as he did, water gusted into the car. “Road’s closed,” the ranger said, holding his walkie-talkie at his hip like a gun. “Afraid you’ll have to turn back. Nobody’s getting out of here for a while.”
He made a gesture at one of the other men. Other cars were beginning to build up behind Cal’s. “What caused it?” he demanded.
The other man shrugged. “Trees are charred. Could have been dry lightning. It happens sometimes. Especially in weather like this.” He slapped the roof of Cal’s car for emphasis, hurrying him along like he was some greenhorn city boy fresh off the cross-county bus.
Horns honked behind him. Cal ignored them. “When will it be cleared?”
“Hard to say.” He rubbed at his jaw, darting an impatient look at the blockage. “Could be a good coupla days. Equipment has to be sent up from three counties thattaway. Then we’ll have to survey the road, check it for damages. Might even take a week.”
Fuck. Cal rolled up his window with a jerk, tires skidding in the mud as he hooked a sharp turn in the dirt shoulder that made the man jump back with an angered shout.
It seemed no one would be getting out of Argentum now. At least, not this way.
The house was abustle with activity when he returned, his suit dampened from the rain and giving off the musty scent of wet wool.
He could hear the clatter of dishes in the kitchen as anything that needed to be prepared for later was, just in case the power went out.
And anything that couldn’t was being moved into cold storage, where they had a backup generator. It was all very efficient.
There was no sight of his father and brother, and Odessa had disappeared—along with the bottle of Champagne. Cal didn’t bother looking for his mother. If she wasn’t out and about playing nice for society docents, she was shut up in her room with a drink of her own.
He went to Nadine’s door and rapped sharply on it. There was a faint creak from within—he thought it might have been the bed, which sent an electric frisson jolting through his veins.
“What? Who is it?” she asked, her voice muted by the wood.
“It’s me. I’m going to the store for candles. Do you want to come?”
Silence. So she was still angry at the two of them. But not so angry that she was going to tell him to go away. Cal listened intently, holding his breath. She was very good at being quiet but he could imagine herself working up to a state of nervousness.
She was even better at that.
“I know you’re in there.” He touched the door, tracing the panels carved into the wood, lingering over their rough and worn edges. “And I’m not above a little quid pro quo. I’ll buy you lunch if you open the door.”
He knew she hadn’t eaten lunch. She was too busy locking herself away like a little maiden in her tower, while those plain eggs she’d had with breakfast slowly became a memory.
The door opened just as he lifted his hand to knock again. That greenish light flowed in through the drawn curtains, providing a dramatic backdrop for her hostility. She darted an accusatory look at his hand before raising her eyes to take him in.
“There you are.” He smiled at her appreciatively.
“Don’t try to buy me,” she told him sternly. “It makes me feel cheap.”